Explore records, photographs, and stories from the people and places that shaped our community.
Search Our DatabaseWelcome to the Benton County Historical Society & Museum
Preserving the stories, artifacts, and heritage of Benton County, Minnesota since 1949.
📅 Today in History
United States
• 1851 Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine"
• 1940 Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath)
Minnesota
• Milk became Minnesota’s official state drink in 1984.
• At its headwaters, the Mississippi starts as an 18-foot-wide, knee-deep river.
Benton County
• Frederick Ayer was Benton County’s first judge of probate.
• Sauk Rapids was separately organized as a village in 1881.